STORY: Europe’s largest low-cost airline, Ryanair, on Monday (November 4) reduced its passenger growth target for next year.
This was due to delivery delays from Boeing.
The aircraft manufacturer was due to deliver 15 737 MAX planes next year.
But Ryanair assumed that figure represented a high risk due to ongoing strikes at Boeing.
Ryanair has reduced its passenger target for the year to March 2026 from 215 million to 210 million passengers.
However, he said lower airfares, throughout a difficult summer, were now increasing.
The Irish airline reported an after-tax profit of $1.95 billion for the six months to the end of September.
This is an 18% drop from last year, with average fares falling 10%.
But group CEO Michael O’Leary said rates in the current third quarter were expected to be only “slightly lower” than the same period last year.
Ryanair’s chief financial officer said low ticket prices were partly due to the impact of high interest rates on consumers.
Not to mention the decision of several online travel agencies to stop selling Ryanair flights in early December following legal and regulatory pressure.
But the finance director said the problem with travel agents was “pretty much behind them” due to new deals with the majority of them.
Ryanair shares were down in early trading.
